Mode op regulating the waste



MPETERS. PNoTo-LTHOGRAPMER WASHINGTON D c UNTED i Ross Winans, orBaiiriiionn, MaarLANn,

MODE 0F REGULATIVNGITHEWASTESTEAM IN LOCOMQTIVE SVVTEAMrvENGrINES. l

Specification of Letters ,Patent ,Nm

To'all culi-0m t muy concern Be it known that I, Ross VViNANs, civilengineer, of the city of Baltimore, inthe State of Maryland, haveinvented an Improvement in tlie'hlanner ofGonstructing LocomotiveSteam-Engines, by which'inif provement the action ofthe waste steam maybe so regulated as to increase .or diminish the draft of the furnacevatpleasure while the engine is in operation and the locomotive under way;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof.

In the locomotive steam engine, as ordinarily constructed, the steam,after it 'has performed its oflice in the cylinders, is, un? der thename of waste steam, conducted through pipes denominated waste pipes,

into the chimney of the engine, and `is suf# fered to escape from thesepipes in a vertical direction so as greatly to increase the naturaldraft through the fire, and thereby, tor augment the quantity of steamproduced...

Itis a matter Vof greatimpoitance, however, inthe management oftheengine, to be able to regulate the amount of this in creased draft, soasto increase or-diminish the power.l of the engine accordingtollthevarying circumstances to which it issub-.

jected when in use. It is obvious, for example, thatto take a loadedtrain of cars up an ascending grade, requires more, power than isnecessary to propel it alonga level; and that in a descendinggrade, itisfrequently desirable thatthe power Should be diminished; there are othercircumstances, also, as is well known to every competent engineer, underwhich the ability to regulate the power of the engine is not only desirable, but of vast importance. The force with which the steam willescape from the orifices of the waste pipes into the chimney, isdetermined by the elasticity of the steam, and the size of the orificesof the 'escape pipes; and by being able to change the latter, thevelocity with which the steam shall issue may be determined, and withthis also the augmentation, or diminution, of the draft will beregulated. In the construction of this part of the engine, as heretoforemade, it has been the aim of the builder so to proportion the size ofthe orifices of the waste pipes as that thel steam shall issue from themwith what may be denominated a medium velocity, which,'however, underthe same elasticity, could not be varied, as the 1,8687, dated November26, 1840.

those engines which the draft is increased by the discharge of theVexhaust steam into,"

tliechimney, andfwhile the engine is'in motion, to increase or toldiiiiinisli,5the draft i Ainther` chimney atpleasure, rby enlarging orcontracting theforiiices of the pipes there,

sofasy to adapt the "draft to f the,` occasion, regulatingtheheat andsteamv generatedtoI flleipartiiilalf ,@Xs'eny- ,Th' fllovi'ne is adescription of 'themanner in whichI effeet this object. i c

. In the feiigiiies in commoniise, theescape,

pipes-by which vthe stean'ifpasses 'from 'the4v cylinders into thechimney, are contracted' f in ysize attheir `Lipper ends forniingtheprivv 'iiceshereing mentioned. In my invention, I

propose to give to them auniform diameter throughout, say three orlfour'inches according to circumstances, as'l shown in 'the'accompanying drawing, 4where A, and B, represent the es'cape pipes,.andC, the chimney ofva locomotive. In Leach of these pipes I; place aninverted cone, O, Oma de of metal, .A theupper end ,of which terminatesinr acyl` A inder`,the diameter of ,which cylinder is so adjusted,y withreference to the diameter of thejescape pipe, as to. vallowbetweenv'them,

when the coneand cylinder are lplaced iin theI escapeA pipesas smallaspace for the escape',

thatwhen the cone and cylinder, which for",

of the steam as is at any time allowable ;`v so brevity I term a damper,is in the position represented in the drawing, Figure l, the steampasses into the chimney with the greatest velocity, and the draft is thegreatest. It will be seen at once by inspection of the drawing, thatwhen the damper is raised, a part of the cone less in diameter isbrought on a horizontal line with the top of the escape pipe, and theopening for the steam to pass into the chimney is increased, and that inproportion as the damper is raised, until when the po-int of the damperis lifted to a line with the top of the pipe, the escape of the steaminto the chimney is unrestrained by it, and, of course, the leastincrease of natural draft is obtained. A contrivance by which the engineman can, at his pleasure, raise or lower the dampers will enable him,therefore, to open or contract the orifices of the pipes, and,consequently, to regulate the draft according to the particularemergency. This may be effected in various ways well known tomachinists; one that would answer the pur pose is exhibited in Figure l,where the engine-maniby turning the winch X moves the bent lever Y,which in its turn raises or sinks the damper O. In order to steady thedampers and keep them properly adjusted in the pipes, I affix three orfour wings to each damper, extending from the apex to the base of thecone; these wings, which consist of thin plates, stand in the directionof the radii of the horizontal section of the cone, and their outeredges touch the inside of the pipe. They are represented at m, m, in thedrawing Fig. l. To make the motion of the dampers simultaneous in bothpipes, their upper, or cylindrical portions are connected by extendingone of the wings up the adjacent sides of said portions, so that one ofthe wings is common to the two dampers,` as at n, n, Fig. l. Further tosteady and guide the said dampers, a rod may be made to pass between thetwo pipes so as to slide within a tube placed there for the purpose, asshown in Fig. l, at 7c; to the upper part of which rod, one of the armsof the bent lever already mentioned may be attached, by means of whichthe dampers may be raised or lowered.

D, Fig. l, is a plan showing the pipes and the tube between them withoutthe dampers. E, Fig. 2, is a representation of the pipe enlarged withthedamper in it.

F, is a plan of the pipe enlarged, showing the damper and its flanges.

Fig. 3, exhibits a section of a chimney, and the two exhaust pipes,showing another modification of my contrivance for producing the sameresult. The dampers here, instead of being inverted cones, are in such aform as to operate like direct cones, and the opening between them andthe sides of the pipe instead of being the smallest that is allowable,when the dampers are depressed, is the largest, and it is by raising,not by sinking, the dampers that the opening is decreasedand the draftincreased. In Fig. 3, the dampers, in place of being steadied in thepipes by fianges, as in Fig. l, are shown as steadied by a prolongationof the rod to which the bent lever is attached downward through a holein a piece of metal, which is placed for that purpose in thepipe belowthe damper, as at 72,' it being so formed as to serve as a guide to thesaid rod.

As already observed, there may be many contrivances for opening andclosing the orifices of the pipes, besides the two above described;these two, however, will answer the purpose, and illustrate my object.

I do not claim the plan of increasing the natural draft by causing thesteam from the cylinders to enter the chimney through diminishedorifices; but

I do claim as my invention, desiring to secure the same by LettersPatent,

` The plan of 'increasing or diminishing the force with which the steamfrom the cylinders enters the chimney, at the pleasure of the engine-manwhile the engine is in use or motion, by enlargingor contracting theorifices of the escape pipes, increasing or diminishing thereby, atpleasure, the draft of the chimney, in the manner above set forth; notintending by this claim to limit myself to the precise arrangement ofthe respective parts as herein described, but to vary the same as I maythink proper, while I attain the same end by means substantially thesame.

ROSS VVINANS.

Witnesses Trios. I). Jones, GEORGE WEST.

